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world11h ago
US spelling bee gets game-show makeover and dramatic finale
- Parikh won the 98th Scripps National Spelling Bee after a 90-second spell-off, spelling 32 words correctly to Gupta's 25.
- The final was decided after 18 rounds of spelling and vocabulary questions, with a rarely used spell-off tiebreaker introduced in 2021.
- Parikh had previously competed in 2022, finishing 89th, before achieving third place in 2024, showing steady progress.
- Parikh spent about five hours a day studying over the past year to prepare for the competition.
- The 2026 event drew participants from across the United States, including Guam, and remains a fixture on the American school calendar.
- The organizers added a multiple-choice vocabulary round in 2021 to emphasize language knowledge over memorization.
- Television host Mina Kimes was brought in to host the coverage as part of the revamped presentation.
- The competition showcased a diverse set of words drawn from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.
- The winning word in the spell-off was 'cashaw', capping Parikh’s perfect performance in the final.
- The event gathered over two hours of competition, underlining the intensity of the final rounds.
- The Scripps National Spelling Bee began in 1925 and continues to attract a national audience.
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